Ray Davies at Hammersmith Apollo

Last night we went to see Ray Davies at Hammersmith Apollo (or 'this old barn' as he referred to it). We saw Ray six months ago at Kenwood House and got rained on so I nervously looked at the art deco ceiling of the Apollo for any holes that might lead to dripping, but it looked ok. We were sitting right in the middle with a great view of the stage which was set for a band and a choir - the Crouch End Festival Chorus. There was a definite 'age thing' going on, with a goodly proportion of the audience being old fans from the '60s and '70s, with a smattering of younger people in the audience.

Shortly after eight o'clock on strode Ray and his guitarist to start the show as a duo and, as he perched on a high stool, he opened with 'You Really Got Me', just the two of them on guitar. Then followed what seemed to me like a live version of my first Kinks LP, 'Golden Hour of The Kinks', with every song a classic. Ray's been singing some of those songs for 45 years and, to stave off any boredom, kept getting the audience to sing along, which we did. After about 40 minutes the rest of the band walked on mid-song, keyboards, bass and drums to add to the two guitars already on stage, and the volume increased.

Another half an hour later and it was time for an interval - 45 years worth of songs gives Ray ample choice of songs and a set as long (or as short) as he wants. We got a great version of 'Dedicated Follower Of Fashion' with a final verse in the style of Johnny Cash and 'Autumn Almanac', a song I never thought I'd hear played live. We also got Ray's newer song 'The Morphine Song' about his time in hospital in New Orleans after being shot a few years back and 'Vietnam Cowboys'. We were given a hard 'Dead End Street' and a rock-out version of 'Till The End Of The Day'.

After the 15 minutes interval on came the Chorus, settling into their seats at the back of the stage behind the band and then on the band came as well, with Ray sprinting to his place in the centre to open with 'Shangri-la' and 'See My Friends', continuing the 'Golden Hour' theme. Ray's latest album is made up of choral versions of Kinks songs and that's what we got, sweeping through 'Days', 'Waterloo Sunset', 'Victoria', the 'Village Green' suite and a great 'Celluloid Heroes'. We were also given a lovely version of Ray's new song 'Postcard From London' (which he was adamant wasn't a Christmas song), with Ray singing all the lead lines (no Chrissie Hynde) and 'Working Men's Cafe'. We were treated to another version of 'You Really Got Me' before ending with an electric 'All Day And All Of The Night' that got everyone out of their seats and into the aisles.

The final song of the evening as an encore was 'that old faggot song', (as he'd earlier referred to it when talking about how he was known when he lived in New Orleans, as the writer of 'the faggot song'), the magnificent 'Lola'. 'Lola' has a special place in my personal discography as the first 7" single I ever owned and I sang along lustily, even when, to my shame, I got one of the lines wrong. But who cares? That's Ray Davies on stage singing 'Lola' so all was right with the world.

It was a great gig and, at over 2.5 hours long, a great evening out. Classic songs, nifty banter and stories in between songs, a powerhouse of a band and choir all thrown together for our enjoyment. Ray said he'd see us again next year which hopefully means another tour and maybe another new album.